…NDLEA operatives have re-arrested a notorious drug trafficker, Nwobodo Basil,
LAGOS, NIGERIA- The iNews Times | NDLEA has arrested an ex-convict, Nwobodo Basil, alongside three cargo agents following the seizure of cocaine concealed in liquid starch sachets and bound for the United Kingdom.
NDLEA disclosed that 75 parcels of cocaine, weighing 1.50 kilogrammes, were recovered from factory-sealed cold-water starch sachets at the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said three cargo agents, Jubrin Hassana, Kuku Oluwasegun and Igwe Jane were apprehended on Saturday, December 20, 2025, in connection with the consignment.
NDLEA added that further investigations traced the shipment to 37-year-old Nwobodo, who was arrested the following day at a relaxation centre in Ikeja.
The statement read in part that NDLEA operatives have re-arrested a notorious drug trafficker, Nwobodo Basil, who was previously convicted in 2023 for trafficking 30.10kg of methamphetamine, following the interception of 75 parcels of cocaine weighing 1.50 kilogrammes concealed in factory-sealed cold-water starch sachets bound for the United Kingdom at the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
It added that three cargo agents, Jubrin Firdausi Hassana, Kuku Daniel Oluwasegun and Igwe Chioma Jane linked to the attempted export of the cocaine consignment were arrested on Saturday, December 20, 2025. Further investigations later identified 37-year-old Nwobodo Chidiebere Basil as the mastermind behind the shipment.
According to the statement, Nwobodo was apprehended in a follow-up operation on Sunday, December 21, at a popular relaxation centre in Ikeja, where he had gone to meet his girlfriend.
NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, disclosed that agency records showed Nwobodo had earlier been arrested in May 2023 after 30.10kg of methamphetamine concealed in powdered custard containers and destined for London was seized.
Babafemi said Nwobodo was subsequently arraigned before a Federal High Court in charge number FHC/L/337C/2023, convicted and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment with an option of a N7m fine, alongside one month of community service, effective December 4, 2023. He paid the fine and soon returned to drug trafficking, he added.
The NDLEA spokesperson also revealed that a 65-year-old driver was arrested in Gombe State with a large cache of pentazocine injections and tramadol pills, while a Lagos-based businessman, Ignatius Egbochie, also known as Brown, was apprehended over an earlier seizure of 26kg of “loud” cannabis at the Tincan Seaport.
He said that in Gombe State, one Sada’u Mohammed, 65, was intercepted along the Gombe–Biu highway while transporting 300 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 27,900 tablets of tramadol and other opioids en route to Biu in Borno State.
Babafemi further stated that a 47-year-old businessman, Ignatius Egbochie (alias Brown), who was wanted in connection with the seizure of 56 parcels of Loud cannabis weighing 26kg at the Tincan Seaport, Lagos, was arrested following a follow-up operation in Apapa on December 19. The drugs were originally seized on December 10 during a joint container examination involving the NDLEA, Customs and other security agencies.
In separate operations across the country, Babafemi said NDLEA operatives destroyed drug warehouses and seized large quantities of cannabis in Ekiti, Edo, Cross River, Abuja, Lagos and Taraba states between December 21 and 25, 2025, leading to the arrest of several suspects.
He said operatives on Monday, December 22, set ablaze tonnes of skunk and wooden warehouses in Ara Forest, Ara-Ekiti, where 638 kilogrammes of the same substance were recovered. On the same day, 1,205 blocks of compressed cannabis sativa weighing 883.1kg were recovered from three Toyota Camry vehicles intercepted along the Igara–Auchi Road in Edo State.
Babafemi added that in Cross River State, raid operations carried out on Sunday, December 21, at Agoi-Ibami community in Yakurr Local Government Area resulted in the arrest of three suspects and the seizure of large quantities of skunk. The suspects were identified as Freedom Jonah Akpama, 27, with 671kg; David Itam David, 30, with 89kg; and Nelson Arikpo Osam, 26, with 148kg.
